New MP3 Revolutionizes Way You Listen to Music

[Smacktalks]

Korean computer engineers are introducing a new digital music format that has separate controls on the sound volume for each musical instrument, such as guitar, drum, base and voice -- an ideal tool for music lovers of different tastes as well as karaoke fans.

The new format, which has a file extension format of MT9 and a commercial title of Music 2.0, is poised to replace the popular MP3 file format as the de facto standard of the digital music source, its inventors say.

I feel ripped off, I had this idea around 8 years ago whilst waiting 20 minutes to download "The Real Slim Shady" on my lightning fast 56k modem.

I'm suprised it's actually taken this long to start making it a reality.

[jitz]

So it has to be supported by the studio, which would have to release the files through iTunes or something similar. We're talking about the same studios that still think that the internet is solely there for illegal activities. It will never work. Besides, they'd never invest the money for every band to support it.

It won't happen.

[Smacktalks]

I can see big company's like Sony investing in it, although the majority of companies wont.

I guess it's kind of like the multiple angles options on dvd that were popular when dvd's first came out, then the feature quickly faded away.

[Jonny]

I always wondered what that angle button was for on my DVD player. Fucking useless.

[Thom]

DJs and Producers have been hypothesizing over this for a while now, breaking down tracks into their most basic elements to give the listener more control over how they choose to hear it. As far as I'm concerned it'll happen, but it won't catch on for a good few years yet. The studios don't need to back it, because as shown in the past few years, there's a shift making music production, distribution and performance to a more spontaneous, grass-roots level. It just needs influential artists to pioneer it, which they are.

Also expect to see programs like Pandora, but giving a full - almost genetic - break-down of a song by it's elements, and each of it's elements inspirations, similar sounds etc. It's pretty exciting to consider, but like I said, probably a decade away at least.

[Aero]

surely alot of music is already recorded seperately and pieced together these days, meaning if you have the master tracks, it's probably not hard to implement "music 2.0"

mayb i'm way off the mark there like, but it seems a fairly straight forward option.

[Thom]

Entirely possible yeah, but each part of the track would require a couple of megabytes, so even compressed songs could be in excess of 100mb

[Aero]

see, surely thats where this new technology comes in?

[Thom]

Nobody's disputing that =p

[crunk]

Entirely possible yeah, but each part of the track would require a couple of megabytes, so even compressed songs could be in excess of 100mb

I really don't even see the problem with that... if they marketed the music as a 'premium service' or something, then that would justify the assumed slightly higher costs of this format and also the file size.

Also, so what if it's 100mb? With the way technology is going, you can't be expected to be able to cram all these new features into a small file and keep it high quality... terrabyte harddrives arent even that expensive these days, and new computers could surely handle it.

But then i guess people would throw out the arguement of like, what about the average user who wants to use these files? Well, if it was marketed as a premium service then like it wouldn't really be targeted to the average consumer, because like someone said before, it would most likely just turn into a fad. It'd be targeted to dj's etc.

yer sorry bout the mini essay there but like yer i sort of know my shit on marketing and advertising

[Smacktalks]

Samsung recently said there planning on marketing a new 1TB drive for $199 or less, so with the speed that harddrive sizes are increasing you wont really care too much about a 100MB file in a few years.

[jitz]

I still dont see this being as simple as what a lot of you are making it out to be. Ok so say the studios and size weren't an issue, most artists wouldn't want their music fucked with in this way. The song is a whole, it's their creation, they spend months getting the mix just right on their tracks, they don't want you taking out the drums, or the upping the vocals. I really dont see bands wanting to pave the way for other people to sample slices of their songs without getting a fee for it. It's much harder to prove that drum beat in the background is stolen, than when you can hear the whole band playing...

Apart from that, pop artists will never support the format, and studios wont let them. They use a lot of their beats and pops and whizzes and all that other shit they like to put into a song and call it "music", to cover up their vocal shortcomings. They don't want you to just hear their singing, no way.

The only people to gain from this format is DJs, because they rip people off for a living.

[Thom]

Firstly, I didn't say 100mb music downloads would be a problem, I jus meant that's the reason that master tracks haven't been released thus far.

I see what you mean Jitz and I agree to a certain extent, but claiming that artists only want their songs to be heard the way they intended isn't true; hence why they allow remixes and cover versions of their songs; encouraging this to a certain extent by releasing instrumental and acapella versions of their record. Forward-thinking artists will gladly adopt the technology, and i a few years it will sort of be forced upon those who don't willingly adopt it. It's already been stated that it'll be possible to release back-catalogues in MT9, so what's stopping future MP3-only releases being converted into the format? Also, attitudes are changing towards digital formats Who would have predicted 5 years ago that commercially successful artists like Coldplay and Rodiohead would release singles and entire albums on the internet completely for free?

[jitz]

hence why they allow remixes and cover versions of their songs; encouraging this to a certain extent by releasing instrumental and acapella versions of their record.

They get paid for the remixes and cover versions, not only an upfront fee, but the original band also gets royalty fees everytime the song is played on radio too. Which is why bands that go big with a cover song aren't filthy rich afterwards, they have to share the cash with the original artist and songwriter.

If you want to sample a bit of any song by any band, you usually can, right now, no new formats needed. You get in contact with the record label, and request it, they tell you the fee structure and you pay it, they will send you the track you ask for. That's how these remixes work Thom. All those Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin samples you here in the background of all this new hip hop and dance tracks, the money is rolling into the original artists pocket still. That's why the format won't work, you will stop the royalty fee money flow.

[Thom]

That's only applicable if the artist is making a profit from the songs which use a sample though.

[jitz]

Indeed, but I've rarely heard of somebody making a song with the desire of giving it away for free.

Say you were to make a song Thom, and took the keyboard out of a song and used that, then you played that song in one of your DJ sets. You're getting paid for the gig, studios can argue they deserve a cut.

It's a practice that does go on today, sampling songs putting them in there without a care in the world. I know, it's not policed because it's difficult thing to do. But making the process so easy, and available to anybody with a computer? You're opening a can of worms, one that will only hurt DJs in the future as the practice will only become policed more as studios kick up more of a fuss about it.

[Nemo]

nine inch nails just released an album that's free to download from their site. it sucks, but it's still free.

also, artists release the instrumentals to their songs all the time. imo, this is just a step up from that.

[Smacktalks]

The copyright part is a big point, but I still see this happening. It'll be a case of one or two big companies taking it on and then others following if it's successful.

As for the copyright part, I dont think there'd be many professional artists sampling parts of it without consent, because they'd only suffer if they were caught out. Look at the bad press that Vanilla Ice got for using a very similar beat of Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie.

Basically if there found out, their label could drop them and it would hit their career hard. So would it really be worth the risk?

[jitz]

Paul, Ice Ice Baby went huge and made Vanilla Ice a shitload of cash. It's only because he couldn't follow it up with another decent song that his career failed.

Well yeah I've said my arguement against it, are we going to wait 5 years till I can give out a huge 'I was right'?

Oh and I disagree on the point of artists releasing instrumentals of their songs all the time, list said artists. Hip hop maybe, anybody else, no.

Trent Reznor is a millionaire, he doesn't need any more cash.

[Fozy]

Muse. One of the biggest bands in the world just now.

[jitz]

I wont take defeat on Muse.

Name some Muse lyrics without looking them up. The vocals aren't the focal point of the band at all, Muse would make a superb instrumental band along the lines of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. Yes I said "anybody else", b ut that was an exaggeration of my point.

[Big Bizang]

'Wash away, clean your body of me. Erase your memories, they'll only bring us pain. And I've seen all I'll ever be.'

Some Muse lyrics off the top of my head. Just saying. I may not have got the last bit right.

Am I the only one who thinks that the way we are hearing the tracks we listen to is the way the aritsts intended us to hear them and therefore shouldn't be fucked with? I think it's important to respect that.

[Fozy]

Jitz, I know like the lyrics from 3 of their albums. My favourite band. lol

[samountain]

HEY!

I thought this was related.

If it can split up the different notes within a fuckin' CHORD, I think it should be possible to split up the individual instrument tracks and change volume etc. Sidesteps the whole labels not allowing it issue. Not to mention how much lazier some artists will become.

Thrice had a competition where they released individual tracks for Image of the Invisible. Also I think I remember seeing the whole of AITA, all individual tracks. This was while they were on a major. That being said, I don't think most labels/artists would do it either. I just wanted to bring up Thrice.

[Big Bizang]

Thrice are awesome.